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I've always been kinda curious as to how Aten came to be. Did he always exist? Or did the (in some cases, forced) belief in him as a Netjer result in him spawning from Netjer (the One or what have you)*?

* Not entirely sure if this is a KO thought, or an actual ancient belief, in that there is a... unifying force of deity and it's called Netjer, and all Netjer are apart of it/come from it.

While I don't know if the ancients used the word netjer to solely refer to this unifying force, we do see this feature of believing in a one source where millions generate from it in ancient thought- specifically with Theban theology with Amun-Re being the source (aka rational henotheism). This is a feature of Middle Kingdom to late thought, whereas the idea of differentiated polytheism (aka proto-rational henotheism), or that is, the idea that even though there was a one in the Nun, once time and space existed he/she was always surrounded by its retinue, thus never being considered a One, is a feature that starts from Old to Middle. However, we do get many different ideas in Egypt of who the ultimate is, and who created what, so in the end it's up to your personal experience. I don't understand where KO gets this idea of monolatry, however.

I think academically speaking, monolatry is because the deities can interlink and be a form of one another. Syncretic deities too play a role here.

There is an excellent essay on the two main thoughts of AE divinity in The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Richard Wilkinson

Rev. Siuda also has an academic paper on divinity in AE too although I can't seem to find it at the moment.

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I am the Goddess of Who I can Become. I mix the magic of the sorceress with the blade of a warrior. I walk the liminal pathways to see the face of the Goddess, both terrible and kind. As She stares back at me, I tremble in awe and ecstasy. --Me

I think academically speaking, monolatry is because the deities can interlink and be a form of one another. Syncretic deities too play a role here.

The definition of monolatry is worshipping one god exclusively while recognizing the existence of others. I don't agree with the word monolatry for what she is describing. I would call it rational henotheism, and I explained why in the other post as well as gave a run down of how we can understand it in the Kemetic context.

I would appreciate you pming me the paper if you ever find it, thanks.

The definition of monolatry is worshipping one god exclusively while recognizing the existence of others.

That's the definition of Henotheism.

Monolatry is believing in many deities as separate and unique while recognizing their Oneness.

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I am the Goddess of Who I can Become. I mix the magic of the sorceress with the blade of a warrior. I walk the liminal pathways to see the face of the Goddess, both terrible and kind. As She stares back at me, I tremble in awe and ecstasy. --Me

I would appreciate you pming me the paper if you ever find it, thanks.

I believe this paper is available from the website for $10.00. I still can't find the link to it.

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I am the Goddess of Who I can Become. I mix the magic of the sorceress with the blade of a warrior. I walk the liminal pathways to see the face of the Goddess, both terrible and kind. As She stares back at me, I tremble in awe and ecstasy. --Me

You can read an excerpt and then you click the link at the bottom to pay for the paper. It's a lecture from a paper given at the ARCE in 2001. Here is the link to buy the paper and lecture. http://www.kemet.org/lectures/onemany-3.html

« Last Edit: June 23, 2011, 07:32:22 pm by SatAset »

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I am the Goddess of Who I can Become. I mix the magic of the sorceress with the blade of a warrior. I walk the liminal pathways to see the face of the Goddess, both terrible and kind. As She stares back at me, I tremble in awe and ecstasy. --Me

Monolatry is believing in many deities as separate and unique while recognizing their Oneness.

I think we may be getting confused on our definitions here, because I got that definition of monolatry from wikipedia. IŽll write you a PM because I think weŽre starting to get off topic here and I donŽt want to derail the thread any further.